Geography

• Primary impacts


  Those that take place at the time of the event itself, and are directly caused by it
• Secondary impacts


  Those that follow the event, and are indirectly caused by it
• Short-term response


  Immediate action after an event
• Long-term response


  Reaction that happens in the weeks, months and years after an event
• Haiti Earthquake 2010


  • When: 4:53pm 12th January 2010
  • Where: Port-au-Prince
  • Magnitude: 7.0Mw
  • After-shocks between 5.5 and 6.0 occurred in the days after
• What caused the Haiti earthquake


  • Contraction and deformation along a fault near the conservative plate boundary
  • Epicentre 25km south-west of capital Port-au-Prince
  • Shallow focus of 13km
• How the Haitian level of development caused such a disaster
• Factors that contributed to the Haiti earthquake disaster

  • Poverty
  • Unemployment
  • Lack of infrastructure (roads, sewers, electricity)
  • Lack of services (health care, transport, education)
  • Very few earthquake-resistant buildings
  • Buildings and other structures were poorly built
  • Epicentre was near to the capital
  • Few resources to rescue or treat injured people
• Primary impacts of the Haiti earthquake


  • Roads damaged and blocked
  • Over 220,000 deaths
  • 300,000 injured
  • 1.3 million made homeless
  • Several hospitals collapsed
  • 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed
  • Businesses destroyed
  • Damage to the main clothing industry
  • Airport and port damaged
• Secondary impacts of the Haiti earthquake

  • 2 million without food or water
  • Looting
  • Tourist industry declined
  • Cholera killed 8000 people
  • 1 in 5 people lost their jobs
  • Displaced moved in to shelters and temporary accommodation
• Primary responses to the Haiti earthquake

  • Neighbouring Dominican Republic provided emergency water and medical supplies, and heavy machinery for search and rescue
  • Emergency rescue teams arrived from countries like Iceland
  • Medical teams began treating the injured, setting up temporary field hospitals
  • GIS used to provide satellite images and maps to assist aid organisations
  • People around the world pledged money over their mobile phones
  • United Nations troops and police sent to help distribute aid and keep order
• Secondary responses to the Haiti earthquake


  • Money pledged by organisations and governments to assist in rebuilding, but only slow progress made after one year
  • After one year, there were still 1,300 camps
  • 'Cash for work' programs paying Haitians to clear rubble
  • Small farmers being supported so crops can be grown
  • Schools being rebuilt
• Tohoku, Japan, 2011 earthquake

  • When: 2:47pm 11th March 2011
  • Where: Epicentre off the North East coast of Japan in the Pacific Ocean, impacting Tohoku, Fukushima and Sendai
  • Magnitude: 9.0Mw
  • Hundreds of after-shocks between 6.0 and 7.0Mw
• Reasons why Japan was so prepared for the earthquake

  • Monitor seismic activity all over the country
  • If an earthquake is detected people are warned immediately
  • Strict building laws prevent damage, with buildings reinforced with steel frames and high rise buildings having deep foundations and shock absorbers
  • Early warning system to alert people and automatically stop mechanical equipment
  • Population educated on what to do, with disaster prevention day to practice evacuations
  • Schools carry out earthquake drills
  • Coastal communities practice getting to higher ground
• Primary impacts of the Tohoku, Japan earthquake


  • Thousands of buildings damaged
  • Severe liquefaction resulted in buildings tilting and sinking into the ground
• Secondary impacts of the Tohoku, Japan earthquake

  • Tsunami which killed thousands of people
  • 230,000 homeless
  • Hundreds of thousands of buildings destroyed
  • Power supplies cut off to the Fukushima nuclear power plant
  • Road and rail networks suffered severe damage
• Short-term relief for the Tohoku, Japan earthquake


  • International aid and search and rescue teams brought in
  • Rescue workers and soldiers sent to deal with aftermath
  • Transport and communication restored a couple of weeks after
  • Power supplies restored in the weeks after
• Long-term planning for the Tohoku, Japan earthquake


  • Japanese authority gave earthquake and tsunami warning which allowed people to get to higher ground
  • Despite very strong shaking, not a single building collapsed in Tokyo
  • Nobody died on the bullet train network due to the automatic braking system
• Conditions needed for tropical storms to form

  • Large, still, warm ocean at 26.5°C
  • Strong winds high in the troposphere, 10-12km above the Earth's surface, to draw warm air up rapidly from the ocean surface
  • Form where the rotation is stronger between 5° and 30° latitude north and south of the equator - at the Tropics
  • Can only form in late summer when oceans have warmed up - mid-July to October in the northern hemisphere, and mid-January to April in the southern
• Storm surge


  A change in sea level that is caused by a storm, leading to extensive flooding and danger for coastal areas
• Causes of a storm surge

  • High winds pushing the seawater towards the coast, causing it to pile up there
  • Low pressure at the centre of the storm "pulling" the water level up
  • Strong winds generating large waves on top of the surge which can damage defences and add to flood risk
  • Heavy rain further increasing the risk of flooding
• Why some countries are more vulnerable to tropical cyclones
• Hurricane Katrina 2005


  • Category 3 hurricane when made landfall
  • Landfall on the south coast after travelling across the Gulf of Mexico
  • The sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the third-strongest landfalling U.S. hurricane on record
  • Track of the hurricane 23rd to 29th August 2005
• What happened with Hurricane Katrina

  • Around the 23rd August 2005 a low pressure tropical depression formed over the warm waters of the coast of Florida
  • Katrina's path took it over the southern tip of Florida but it was over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico that the storm deepened to exceed wind speeds of 282km/h, thereby creating a category 5 hurricane
  • The Hurricane then lost some energy and dropped to a category 3 event before reaching land at New Orleans
  • Despite decreasing in intensity, Katrina was a huge and powerful storm
  • The accompanying storm surge varied from 3 to 10 m in height and along with the strong winds and intense rain, building damage and flooding was extensive
• Impacts of Hurricane Katrina

  • Storm surges reached over 6 metres in height, flooding 80% of the city and causing huge property damage and loss of life
  • New Orleans was one of the worst affected areas because it lies below sea level and is protected by levees, which were unable to cope with the strength of Katrina
  • People sought refuge in the Superdome stadium, with unhygienic conditions and shortages of food and water, and looting was commonplace
  • 1 million people were made homeless
  • About 1,200 people drowned in the floods
  • Oil facilities were damaged, leading to a rise in petrol prices in the UK and USA
• Preparation for Hurricane Katrina

  • Monitoring system predicting when and where it would hit
  • NHC issued hurricane warning on 26th
  • Embankments/levees failed and flooded New Orleans
  • National Hurricane Centre used satellite images and planes
  • Mississippi and Louisiana declared state of emergency
  • 70-80% of New Orleans residents evacuated before it hit land
• Response to Hurricane Katrina

  • Great forecasting and tracking services, with forecasters able to predict where the hurricane would make landfall
  • Mayor of New Orleans ordered the evacuation of the city, but many unable to leave as they didn't have access to a car
  • Superdome shelter had limited supplies of food and water
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) unprepared for the scale of the destruction
  • Poorest worst affected, without cars so struggled to evacuate, and survivors felt betrayed
  • $50 billion in aid was given by the government
• Was the preparation for Hurricane Katrina effective?
• Was the response to Hurricane Katrina effective?
• Typhoon Haiyan 2013


  • When: 7th and 8th November 2013
  • One of the strongest ever recorded and deadliest to hit the Philippines
  • Became a super typhoon responsible for 6300 deaths
  • Began in the Pacific Ocean and then was blown towards the Philippines
  • Reached a category 5 storm with wind speeds up to 314 km/hr
• How Typhoon Haiyan was caused
• Factors that contributed to the impacts of Typhoon Haiyan

  • The Philippines is made up of over 7,000 islands
  • 65% of the population live by the coast
  • The economy of the Philippines is one of the biggest emerging markets in the world but many parts of the country remain very poor
  • An average of 20 major storms hit the Philippines a year - Haiyan was the 25th tropical storm to enter Filipino waters in 2013
• Impacts of Typhoon Haiyan

  • 6,300 dead
  • 1,757 missing
  • 26,136 injured
  • 3.4million displaced
  • 10 to 13 million people affected
  • 574,392 (90%) houses totally destroyed
  • 225,922 living in evacuation centers
  • 1,069 evacuation centers set up
  • 3,316,448 people outside of evacuation centers receiving aid
• Why is the economic cost so much higher for Hurricane Katrina when the number of lives lost was so much lower than that of Haiyan?
• Storm surge from Typhoon Haiyan

  • A 7.5 metre wave hit the coastline, so powerful it washed bodies from graves
  • Landslides also hindered the rescue efforts
• Responses to Typhoon Haiyan


  • 7 provinces in the Philippines placed under a 'state of National Calamity'
  • Relief effort slowed by blocked roads and major damage to airports
  • Some areas were isolated for several days
  • Many without source of clean water due to burst pipes and contamination from seawater
  • Due to lack of power, evacuations could only take place during daylight hours (11 hours)
  • Big focus on relief in Tacloban - lots of smaller remote areas felt abandoned
• What were the successes in the response to Typhoon Haiyan?
• What are the differences to the response for Hurricane Katrina?
• Preparation for Typhoon Haiyan

  • Assisted in tracking the typhoon by Japan
  • Government used the public storm warning signal (PSWS) - originally only a level 1 warning given to some eastern areas, but level increased to 4 when it made landfall
  • Areas at risk of flood and landslides evacuated
  • Military sent planes and helicopters to regions most at risk to help with aid
  • Government emergency shelters were not on ground high enough to escape the massive 5 metre storm surge
• Response to Typhoon Haiyan

  • Over $1.5 billion of foreign aid pledged
  • Seven provinces under 'state of national calamity'
  • Relief effort slowed by blocked roads and damaged airports
  • Areas isolated for days - no sources of clean water
  • People needed to be evacuated from Tacloban, but because no electricity for lights the evacuation could only happen during daylight hours
  • Some people in Tacloban sheltered in a sports stadium but died after it flooded
  • Caused panic as people had to be held back from rushing evacuation planes